Posts Tagged ‘George Bush’

Iran test-fired a new generation surface-to-surface missile on Wednesday, state media said, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad repeated once again that the Islamic Republic would crush any power acting against it.
Iran’s latest missile test followed persistent speculation in recent months of possible U.S. or Israeli strikes against its nuclear facilities, which the West suspects form part of a covert weapons program. Tehran denies the charge.U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, like outgoing U.S. President George W. Bush, has not ruled out military action although he has criticized the Bush administration for not pushing for more diplomacy and engagement with Tehran.

Speaking before talks at Camp David with Nicolas Sarkozy and Jose Manuel Barroso, George W Bush said it was “essential that we work together”.

The first summit will be held in the US after November’s presidential election.

The Europeans want the meetings to pave the way for talks on an overhaul of the world’s financial regulatory systems.

Before he arrived at Camp David, the presidential retreat in the state of Maryland, Mr Sarkozy warned the world could not “continue to run the economy of the 21st Century with instruments of the economy of the 20th Century”.

George Bush, the US president, has praised Pakistan for making a “very strong commitment” to combating “extremists” after talks with Yousuf Raza Gilani, the Pakistani prime minister.

The talks came as a missile attack just inside Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan killed at least six people, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

Speaking at a news conference in Washington DC, Bush called Pakistan “strong ally and a vibrant democracy”(what had Bush had before the press conference???) and said that the US “supports the sovereignty of Pakistan“.

After months of tiresome bickering over the pact between the Congress-led coalition government and its Communist parliamentary allies, this was a coup for Mr Singh. He is believed to view the deal with America, struck three years ago but recently seeming dead, as his government’s finest achievement. It would enable nuclear-armed India to import nuclear fuel and technology for civilian uses—despite its refusal to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. This, its supporters and critics agree, would be hugely significant, making India an exception to the global counter-proliferation regime.

But the deal is not done yet. Besides the IAEA, India has to convince the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to rewrite its rules and then America’s Congress votes on the whole package. The NSG’s sign-off might be especially elusive. Several European countries have concerns about the deal, and China may stealthily wish to spoil its populous rival’s party. In India itself, opposition to the deal could yet topple the government, though this seems less likely by the day. Still, some observers found it apt that, as Mr Singh issued his historic promise, his head was in the clouds.

On July 9th, in response to Mr Singh’s announcement, the Communists withdrew support from the government, depriving it of a parliamentary majority. They promise to move a no-confidence vote soon after Parliament next meets on August 11th. But Mr Singh seems happy to fight—hence his in-flight announcement. This is because, in deft and shady negotiations, his government has won new support, from the Samajwadi Party (SP).

An outfit of low-caste Hindus, backed by many Muslims and led by Mulayam Singh Yadav, the SP is based in India’s vast northern state of Uttar Pradesh (UP).Mr. Yadav, anti-American, now seems to think the deal crucial to India.

The situation is worsened as time goes by: Mr. Rashid, 59, has just published his fourth book, “Descent into Chaos, The United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia,” a caustic review of the mistakes by the Bush administration in tackling Islamic militancy.

The Bush administration, he said, was too gentle with Pakistan’s president, Pervez Musharraf, after he pledged to support the antiterrorism campaign after 9/11. “The Americans never said strongly enough that Pakistan had to stop supporting the Taliban — that was because Musharraf was giving them the Al Qaeda types,” capturing a few top Qaeda operatives and handing them over to the United States. Mr. Bush should have insisted that Musharraf quash the Taliban too, he said.

(…)The Pakistani Army and Pakistan’s powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency protected the Afghan Taliban in Quetta, the provincial capital of Baluchistan, as “a strategic asset” for use in the future as a buffer against India, he said.

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BeliefNet has a very good comment on the subject: “Over a hundred of these fringe protest groups coalesced, as they so often do, into a confused mêlée of conflicting special interests,” reported Yiannopoulos. “They were united, however, in the sheer nastiness with which they expressed their views. To give but one example — as pilgrims […]

This week there will be no posts here at T&P. At home, we are preparing for Pope Benedict’s arrival in Madrid for the WYD 2011. More than 1 million and a half are to arrive this week to celebrate this great event for all the Catholics. There are people from India, Yemen, Ethiopia, Poland, USA, […]

Because what the country needs is really more Islamism, more religious extremism and more persecution against non-Muslims: The imam of Islamabad’s famous Red Mosque (Lal Masjid) has accused the government of “corrupting the country”. He has called on the “soldiers of Islam” to fight “to create an Islamic nation” where “Sharia laws can be enforced”. […] […]

He didn’t really believe in the Alliance of Civilizations: A 26-year-old German-Turkish citizen charged with plotting an attack with explosives on U.S. installations in Germany and attempting to recruit al-Qaida supporters over the Internet is standing trial in Frankfurt. Prosecutor Michael Bruns told a court Friday at the opening of the trial that the man, […]

Great. Have they actually considered this guy could be lying? London, Aug 13 (ANI): A suspected terrorist has been granted bail in Britain after he claimed in black and white that he had changed his mind on terrorism. The Algerian, who can be identified only as “U”, was detained in 2001 after arriving in Britain […]

Well, I am anxious to know what Obamamessiah has said about this: The New York Times, citing classified intelligence documents and unnamed officials, reports that terrorist operatives have been making efforts to buy large quantities of castor beans – which contain the toxic ricin protein – and shift them to a remote tribal area controlled by […]

Twelve heavily armed suspected Taliban militants barged into the residence of an American national and kidnapped him in the wee hours today after overpowering his guards in Pakistan”s Punjab provincial capital. About a dozen armed men entered the house of Warren Weinstein in Block J of Model Town neighbourhood at 3:30 am and took him […]

Just consider what would have been the international reaction if a Christian-majority country would have shown on TV ads aimed at non-Christians telling them what they should or shouldn’t do during religious celebrations. I guess even Ban Ki-Moon would have protested: “While the station retracted the advertisements within 48 hours of first screening them and […]

The attorney for a Florida Muslim cleric accused of supporting terrorists wants to learn the identity of a key FBI informant in the case. Evidence shows the informant recorded numerous conversations with the cleric, 76-year-old Hafiz Khan. Khan’s attorney says in court papers that learning the informant’s identity is critical in preparing his defense. The [… […]

As they can’t deny the fact that Mr Bhatti was murdered, they are lying about why he was killed: because of his opposition to the Pakistani “blasphemy law”. But of course, that wouldn’t be convenient for Pakistani stablishment, would it? The media in Pakistan are trying to explain the murder of a leading Catholic politician […]

Asian stocks rose, paced by banks and mining shares, and the won strengthened for the first time in four days after South Korea’s current-account surplus widened. Metals and grains climbed, while oil erased earlier gains.